Abstract:

Whole-process crisis learning for governmental organizations to maintain continuity is one of the effective tools to solve governance dilemmas and trigger policy changes. An analytical framework of “equilibrium continuum of whole process learning” is proposed based on a longitudinal case study of crisis learning by governmental organizations before， during and after the crisis of the major explosion in J Province， to explain and depict the black box of the crisis learning process of Chinese governmental organizations during the whole process of the crisis. It is found that the pre-crisis learning process is experience application and emergency preparedness； the mid-crisis learning process is behavioral adjustment and macro-regulation； and the post-crisis learning process is investigation and accountability and institutional change. The balanced continuum of crisis learning is reflected in the simultaneous and balanced occurrence of crisis and crisis learning process， the balanced way of single-loop learning and double-loop learning， the balanced goal of policy change and effective crisis response， the continuity of pre-crisis， mid-crisis and post-crisis learning in the time dimension， the continuity of mutual boosting in the space dimension， and the continuity of single-loop learning and double-loop learning approaches. The findings not only enrich the theoretical marginal map of crisis learning in China’s localized context， but also paint a more detailed picture of the action strategies and details of how governmental organizations conduct the crisis learning processes before， during， and after a crisis.

Key words: crisis learning, whole process learning, equilibrium continuum, governmental organization